I recently won an auction on eBay for a buffalo hide. Considering the price I paid for it, I'm assuming it's rather old and probably in questionable shape. Picture looked pretty good, though, so I'm crossing my fingers.
Now, the question is: how can I clean this? I heard tell that a properly tanned hide can be washed with soap and water ie: in the washing machine. Is this true?
Any pointers on what bad things I should look for in this hide when it gets here? The hide is going to be used to mount some movie props from Dances with Wolves, so if it's ratty-looking, that's okay :)
I'm thinking mold and stuff -- comments?
Roan
(Eileen)
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RA(E), First of all-forget the washing machine-if it doesn't wreak the buffalo hide it most likely will ruin the washer. No way to give a definite answer on washability of the skin as so many variables are involved. Age of the skin, method of tan and how the skin has been stored are just 3 considerations. The skin itself can become fragile over time. I washed a very dirty zebra skin once that was so far gone that the skin actually disolved in one spot. My feeling is one of those little canister vacumn cleaners that you can "vent" off some of the suction would be a good way to start. Removing most of the dust and any mold this way should cause no harm. Brushing will tell you right away if the hair's loose. If you decide that washing is required I would test an area before doing the whole thing. Some sweet smelling shampoo w/conditioner used sparingly and rinsed well will clean the hair but drying the critter can take a long time and the skin will probably not be as soft after you finish. There is no set formula to deal with old tans and results can run the full range. If you find things are pretty sturdy and the washing goes well you could always slip into some commercial laundrymat at 2:00 in the morning to fluff dry that boy on low heat. Good luck-Aaron H.